Jefferson County Infrastructure Needs

The infrastructure needs in Jefferson County have been identified in a report presented by the Tennessee Advisory Commission for Intergovernmental Relations. In a five year look at needs in the areas of Transportation, Schools and Waste Water between the years 2013-2018, Jefferson County was found to exceed the average needs per capita in the State of Tennessee in two of the three categories. Overall, Tennessee was estimated to need $42.3 billion dollars to answer the infrastructure needs and Jefferson County’s portion is $365.7 million. Of that amount need in Jefferson County, around $224.5 million in funding as already been identified, leaving a little over $141 million in funding still to be identified. Some of the funding avenues are federal or state monies and others will include local dollars.

Jefferson County’s Transportation needs came in at $5,784 per capita, which exceeded the statewide estimate of $3,952. Jefferson County Mayor Palmieri stated that his office assisted TACIR will information regarding Jefferson County. He noted that Transportation is a rather encompassing category and includes, beyond traditional road need, public transportation, bridges and other items. Palmieri said “ We do well with the funding that we have available in Jefferson County for roads and such but there is still work that will have to be done on bridges and other things and many of those are projects that are outside the scope of our local departments.” Of the identified needs,Transportation has the largest price tag, coming in at $301.5 million dollars. School renovations and replacements accounted for $36.7 million dollars of the estimated costs for Jefferson County. This was another area that Jefferson County exceeded the statewide estimates, with 7.7% of schools in the County being identified as less than good overall, compared to 5% statewide.

Mayor Palmieri stated “ We are always going to have facility needs for the schools and County. Every time that we fail to do what needs to be done in relation to our building, it just ups the cost later. Like our Finance Director Potts says, we need to look through the front windshield instead of always looking in the rear view mirror.”

One area that Jefferson County did fair better than the statewide estimate was in Water and Wastewater infrastructure needs, coming in $153 per capita less than the state and accounting for only $19.4 million of Jefferson County’s total funding need. Jefferson County was listed as 29^th in population, 17^th in population growth ( since 2000) and 22^nd in population change. The County is 28^th in total estimated infrastructures needs, 20^th in total public school needs per student and 40^th total estimated infrastructure needs per capita.

When asked how the information in the report is expected to impact the residents of Jefferson County, Mayor Plamieri said “ It highlights the need for planning. The Office of the Mayor, the Jefferson County Finance Director and Department Heads are looking at ways to address the future needs of Jefferson County, at a cost that we can afford , without impacting services for our citizens. On the advice of Finance Director Potts, the County Commission recently adopted the hybrid benefit plan for future County employees. The adoption does not have any effect on current employees and will save the County more than a couple of million dollars over the next ten years. It was a smart move for Jefferson County and there are other things that we could and should be looking at to off set the costs of our infrastructure needs. What the County cannot afford to do is be bogged down with things that are counter productive and take the time away from real business. We know the needs are there, the state knows the needs are there. Now is the time to take proactive steps to address those needs, whether they are today’s needs or five years down the road.”